You never knowThe good thing about having root is you can go back if you want. The same is not true of not having root. We do not know what steps Google/Tmobile will take to rid the end users of root in the future. For all we know the next OTA will remove the keys that allows the RC29 downgrade method to work and you could be stuck on a non rooted G1 forever. If you have root and for some reason it does not work for you there is always the option of going back.

What Does Root Give Me?

Full control over your system Ability to alter system files. You can replace many parts of the "Android Core" with this including: Themes Core apps (maps, calendar, clock etc) Recovery image Bootloader Toolbox (linux binary that lets you execute simple linux commands like "ls") can be replaced with Busybox (slightly better option) Boot images Add linux binaries Run special apps that need more control over the system SuperUser (lets you approve or deny the use of root access to any program) Task Manager For Root (Lets you kill apps that you otherwise could not kill) Tether apps (like the one found at [android-wifi-tether.googlecode.com]) <there are more but I cannot think of any right now> Backup your system You can make a folder on your sdcard and backup all of your .apk files to your sdcard (helps if an author decides to "upgrade" you to a version that requires you to pay to use the version you just had) Relocate your (browser/maps/market) cache to your /sdcard Relocate your installed applications to your /sdcard Reboot your phone from the terminal app easily (su <enter> reboot <enter>)

What Do I Lose Having Root

The ability to accept OTA updates (well, you can but you would lose root, so its been made so they get denied) The sense that someone else controls your phone The need to sit in an Android chat channel asking how to get root The need for a stupid useless "File Manager" that lets you see filenames but almost nothing else. The ability to have a knowledgeable conversation with a T-Mobile rep about your phone. (Ask one of them to spell root for you) More!! I know there is a ton more, but others will have to fill them in for me.

* Please keep this thread clean. do not post any question until i fulfill this thread. your co-operation is appreciated.

Format your phone's SD card to FAT32 mode:Hook your phone up to your computer using a USB cable and then wait for the notification to show up in your title bar of your phone. Click the notification, and then click "Mount". A new removable disk should show up on your computer. Right click it and select Format, and select FAT32 as the file system type. Download and unzip the RC29 or RC7 image file. Copy the DREAIMG.nbh file to the SD card. (RC29 for US, RC7 is for UK) Turn the device power off. Hold Camera button, and press Power button to entry bootloader mode. You should see a gray/white screen with instructions to flash your phone with the update on your SD card. If you don't see that, make sure you followed the instructions properly. As per the on-screen instructions, press the Power button to start upgrade procedure. DO NOT DO ANYTHING TO INTERRUPT THIS PROCESS. After it is finished, restart your phone by pressing the trackball button ("action button") and then press Call, Menu and End simultaneously. At the end of this process, you'll now be running a build old enough to have the exploit we need to get root. Continue on with the next section.

Rooting RC29 and Lower

On RC29 phones and lower, a huge exploit existed where anything you typed into your keyboard was also being run in a hidden console with root permissions.

Download recovery.img and copy it to your SD card (see the previous section on how to copy from your computer to your Phone's SD card). Download the Hard SPL and copy the zip file to the SD card. All files must be on the root of your SD card. Restart your phone. Wait for your phone to start up fully and show the home screen. After your phone starts up, type "telnetd" and press enter. (Yes, it will start up a contact search, don't worry. Just type it.) Download an Android "Telnet" application from the Market and connect to localhost. If you connect successfully, you will have a root prompt "#". Type the following into Telnet (these commands will give you root access easier in the future):mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system cd sdcard flash_image recovery recovery.img cat recovery.img > /system/recovery.img Now you have root!

Next stepsWhether you gained root using RC29 or the downgrade method, the next steps are highly recommended. You will want to apply "Hard SPL" to your phone. HardSPL is what will allow you to apply flash images from other regions (like UK on US phones, and vice versa), create full backups of your phone, install the latest build from the Android source, and usually resurrect your phone if it is "bricked". You have already downloaded the file to your SD card, so now you can apply it.

Power off your phone. Start up in recovery mode by holding home and pressing power. You will now enter recovery mode. You should see an exclamation. If you do not see a menu on screen, press Alt-L to show the menu. Press Alt-S to apply the update from the SD card. After the update is complete, hold Home and press Back to restart. ****A Big Thanks to Kaushik Dutta for all this****

If you have Asian Version of Magic, do not use this method cause it disables wi-fi.

Copy this update to your SD-card. Download the rooted recovery image here. Enable USB debugging on the device Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB Debugging Boot the device in fastboot mode. adb shell reboot bootloader Connect the device to your machine over USB. Type the following command on your desktop (not on the device): fastboot boot recovery-RAv1.0H.img Choose option "Apply sdcard:update.zip" from the menu on the device note: you may need to unplug the usb if you receive any errors

Before trying this procedure, try the How To Root the Hero In One Click since its update. Should work for all Heros (read the before you begin on that procedure carefully). If not then come back to this procedure.

Make sure you have an SD Adapter to put your MicroSD in so you can plug it into a computer and access it.

I. Download and Install the Android SDK and USB drivers (If you already have this done, skip this section).

1. Follow our video procedure on HOW TO SETUP ADB/USB DRIVERS.

II. Create a “GoldCard” from a MicroSD Card

1. Put the memory card you want to use for the GoldCard into your phone.

2. With the memory card in your phone, click on Settings, SD and Phone storage, then click Unmount SD card. Once it unmounts, click Format SD card. (Please keep in mind that some memory cards don’t work, and this will erase all data on your SD Card so back all the data up first to your computer)

3. On the Phone, goto Settings, Applications, Development and then make sure USB Debugging is checked.

4. *Make sure you have installed the SDK and Fastboot correctly from Section I!!!Plug the phone into the computer and then open the Command Prompt (goto the start menu and type in cmd in the search box). Then type the following with hitting enter at the end of each line.

cd\cd\AndroidSDK\tools\adb devices

(wait for the it to show a serial number underneath, if it doesn’t then reinstall the drivers from section I). Then type:

adb shellcat /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc1/mmc1:*/cid

5. A code will display, write the code down (MAKE SURE TO WRITE IT DOWN EXACTLY!)

6. Goto this site, Soaa.me - (write down, copy, paste, and then) One-click hex reverse for GoldCard creation, then put in your code you just wrote down into the text box and click submit. It will generate the code reversed and replace the first two digits with zeros automatically. Write that down and continue to step 9.

7. Now, on your computer, goto Redirection and enter your email in the appropriate field and for CID enter the reversed CID you just copied down BUT REPLACE THE FIRST 2 DIGITS WITH 2 ZEROS!

8. Click continue and then you will receive your goldcard.img via email. Once it arrives save it to your computer.

9. Now, goto [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] to download the HxD Hex Editor. Save it and install it to your computer.

10. Take your SD card out of your phone and put it into the SD adapter it came with. Then put that into your computer so it shows up on your computer as Removable Disk.

11. Open the Hex Editor (Run as Administrator if one Vista or Windows 7) and click on the Extra tab, then click on Open Disk. Under Physical Disk select Removable Disk (your SD card you just put into the computer). Make sure to UNcheck “Open as ReadOnly”. Click OK.

12. Goto the Extra tab again and click Open Disk Image. Open up the goldcard.img that you saved from your email. You should now have two tabs, one is the SD card (Removable Disk) and the other is the goldcard.imgPress OK when prompted for Sector Size 512 (Hard Disks/Floppy Disks).

13. Click on the Goldcard.img tab and click on the Edit tab and click Select All. Then click on the Edit tab again and click Copy.

14. Click on the Removable Disk tab (Your SD Card) and select offset 00000000 to 00000170 then click on the Edit tab and click Paste Write.

15. Click on File then click Save.

16. Close the Hex Editor.

17. Test what we’ve done:

Take out the memory card from the computer, then put it back in.Try to open the memory card on the computer (Removable Disk), if it lets you, you are all set. If it asks/tells you to reformat the card, then try steps 13 – 19 again. If it gives you the same error again, then try a different memory card (Erlern said it didn’t work for him until he finally went and bought a Kingston 2GB card, then it worked on that card only).

18. Put the GoldCard into your phone and reboot the phone with the GoldCard inside.

III. Downgrade the Hero using the Goldcard

1.Download and install

HTC Sync

2. Plug in your phone via USB cable to your computer (make sure the GoldCard is in the phone).

3. Once HTC Sync is installed and your phone is plugged in, pull down the notification bar on the phone and select HTC Sync. Make sure it connects to HTC Sync on the computer.

4. Download the Original HTC Hero RUU

Hero RUU

5. Double click the RUU you downloaded while the phone is plugged in with the GoldCard in it and follow the on screen procedure.

THANKS JESTERZ at XDA!

Reported Issues

Issue: I get an issue at step 5 or this procedure does not work for me.

Solution: Try to repeat the procedure with the 2.73.405.5 RUU listed on the site here:

Alternative RUU

Issue: I get Wrong Customer ID or a similar error when trying to use the RUU.

Solution: This means your Goldcard did not work and you need to try to do it again with a different SD card.